Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet – Sources For The Star-Cross’d Lovers
Tracing the sources of Shakespeare’s plays to their roots is fun, though sometimes vexing. Do you work backwards, or try and trace the evolution from ancient texts to his eventual recreation? Chronologically, the most obvious inspiration for Shakespeare's Romeo &...
How I Discovered The Lost Novels Of Nellie Bly
It was the first day of December, 2019, and like Alice, I was down a rabbit hole. I was working on a short-story follow-up to my 2018 novel What Girls Are Good For, recounting the early career of Nellie Bly, the pioneering American journalist known for her fearless...
The Bear: Dinner And Threats Of Violence
After seeing a terrific one-woman show on Friday night (Charlotte Booker's original show about Elsie Lanchester), Jan and I came home and she showed me THAT episode of The Bear. (We watched season one this summer, and I've been slowly catching up since we got home)....
Recent Posts
Shakespeare’s Macbeth – Reimagining “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow…”
Shakespeare's Macbeth explores the darkest recesses of the human psyche, delving into themes of ambition, power, guilt, and the consequences of one's actions. Macbeth’s arc culminates in the "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy in Act 5, Scene 5, a poignant...
Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet: Comedy Subverted, Tragedy Reinvented
“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” William Shakespeare’s The Tragedie Of Romeo And Juliet reinvented theatrical Tragedy by taking standard Comedic elements and subverting them, with unhappy outcomes. This makes Romeo & Juliet...
Shakespeare’s Othello – A Prayer Before Dying
I am often asked what's my favorite Shakespeare play. It's like asking me to pick my favorite ice cream. Sure, there are favs, but it's ice cream - the worst I've had is terrific. Having performed about two-thirds of the canon, any list of mine would have Much Ado and...
Shakespeare – A Wordsmith For All Seasons
Shakespeare: A Wordsmith For All Seasons Shakespeare's unmatched linguistic prowess allowed him to coin and popularize a staggering number of words. It's estimated that he introduced around 1,700 words to the English language—at least, his plays are the first recorded...
Comic Books – Superman Myths That Began On Radio
10 Pieces Of Superman’s Lore That Started On Radio In addition to Shakespeare, Dante, and Nellie Bly, I am also a comic book aficionado. As such, I am always fascinated on how stories change and transform between mediums. In this case, the cross-pollination of comic...
Dangerous Expectations – Writing Shakespeare
Playing the expectations game is dangerous. You rewrite Romeo & Juliet, you’d best bring something new to the table. You write about the fall of Jerusalem, there had better be something uplifting in that awful story. And if you write a novel about William...
Romeo & Juliet – I Always Hated Shakespeare
Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, and how the Capulet-Montague feud inspired a series of historical novels I always hated Shakespeare. They made me read him. In junior high, it was JULIUS CAESAR, and I hated it. In high school, it was ROMEO & JULIET, which...
Romeo & Juliet: The Death Of Benvolio
If you wanted to throw a wrench into my theory about the cause of the Capulet-Montague feud in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, one needs only point out that in the earliest version, Lady Montague does not, in fact, have the final death in the play. Benvolio does....
Nellie Bly’s World – NELLIE BLY AT THE RACES!
Nellie Bly at the Races The New York World/July 8, 1894 The Women Enthusiasts Who Are Regular Visitors at the Big Tracks Every Day of the Season. How They Make Bets—Backing Horses on a System and as Well Posted on Jockeys and Records as Any of the Men—Scenes in the...
Nellie Bly’s World – GIRLS OF THE WILD WEST
Girls of the Wild West Sunday, July 8, 1888 Nellie Bly Goes Down And Makes Friends With The Riders The Lassies of the Show Are Just Like Nice Girls Everywhere—Miss Hickok Has a Bridle Made from Hair Taken from Scalped Indians—How They Learned to Ride and Shoot Out...
